MILITARISM, 


OR 


Military  Feve 

TS  CAUSES,  DANGERS  

By 

RICHARD  H.  T 

OF  BALTXM 


CURE. 


PHILADELP 
THE  AMERICAN  FRIEND 
1899. 


-fSv 

MILITARISM,  OR  MILITARY  FEVER: 
ITS  CAUSES,  DANGERS 
AND  CURE. 


BY  RICHARD  H.  THOMAS,  M.D.,  OF  BALTIMORE,  MD. 


Militarism,  or  military  fever,  is  a condition  which  pro- 
foundly affects  both  individuals  and  nations.  It  and  its 
allied  states  were  for  centuries  held  to  be  evidences  of 
sound  health;  but  long  since  certain  careful  observers 
showed  that  so  far  from  this  being  the  case,  they  are 
diseased  conditions  accompanying  malnutrition  and  want 
of  development  of  the  higher  powers  of  man. 

The  disease  in  one  or  other  of  its  many  forms  is  en- 
demic in  all  latitudes,  and  is  liable  at  any  time  to  become 
locally  epidemic. 

In  its  acute  form  it  is  characterized  by  a high  degree 
of  febrile  excitement,  with  great  unrest,  and  often  with 
violence  of  thought  and  language,  in  which  symptoms  of 
pride  and  arrogance  are  generally,  though  not  invariably, 
mingled.  Nearly  always  there  is  a distortion  of  vision, 
with  an  utter  inability  to  see  any  side  of  a question  but 
one,  and  even  this  only  in  the  light  of  what  the  patients 
call  glory  and  renown.  In  such  cases  the  disorder  often 
culminates  in  an  eruption,  known  as  war,  which,  to  use 
a well-known  expression,  is  the  sum  of  all  cruelties,  and 
in  which  thousands  may  be  wounded  or  killed,  an  enor- 
mous amount  of  property  be  destroyed,  homes  rendered 
desolate,  a grievous  burden  of  debt  left  behind,  and  the 


2 


whole  moral  tone  of  a people  lowered,  with  an  alarming 
increase  of  crime  against  person  and  property. 

In  certain  cases,  the  more  prominent  feeling  before 
the  outbreak  appears  to  be  a stern  sense  of  duty,  but 
even  in  such  instances  the  result  is  very  much  the  same. 

In  its  sub-acute  and  chronic  form,  the  condition  in 
modern  times  -shows  itself  in  the  expenditure  of  great 
sums  in  armaments,  forts,  implements  of  warfare,  the 
training  of  large  bodies  of  men  as  soldiers,  in  standing- 
armies,  etc.,  all  of  which  are  a severe  burden  to  the  peo- 
ple, a serious  and  constant  injury  to  their  moral  life,  and 
a menace  to  their  liberties,  while  a condition  of  chronic 
nervous  irritability  in  national  governments  is  produced, 
in  which  every  unintentional  slight  and  every  misun- 
derstanding becomes  a possible  cause  for  a fresh  eruption 
of  war. 

The  disease  is  probably  the  most  contagious  known  to 
man.  Perhaps  no  nation  has  wholly  escaped  it,  and 
probably  no  individuals  exposed  to  the  infection  have 
failed'  to  be  attacked,  unless  they  had  been  previously 
well  protected. 

As  I have  said,  even  acute  attacks  were  for  a long  time 
universally  regarded  as  evidences  of  health,  and,  speak- 
ing broadly,  very  many  still  so  regard  them.  Down  to  the 
present  day,  great  teachers  of  mankind,  poets,  artists, 
historians,  instructors — yes,  sometimes  even  the  profess- 
ing Church  of  Christ  in  its  organized  capacity — exalt  the 
military  hero  as  a true  pattern  for  our  youth,  and  extol 
military  glory  as  a very  high  attainment  of  vigorous 
manhood.  The  number  of  these  is,  however,  steadily 
diminishing,  and  the  ranks  of  advanced  and  truly  scien- 
tific observers  are  continually  beiiur  recruited.  Among 


3 


these  last  are  many  who,  while  they  have  come  to  ad- 
mit that  the  war  spirit  is  a diseased  condition,  or,  at  best, 
a condition  denoting  incomplete  development,  and  while 
they  honestly  endeavor  to  guard  against  acute  attacks, 
still  regard  the  chronic  form  of  the  malady  with  com- 
placency, supposing  it  to  act  as  a prophylactic  against 
the  acute.  Their  attitude  in  this  respect  has  recently 
been  strongly  assailed  by  so  unprejudiced  an  observer  as 
the  Czar  of  Russia,  who  has  pointed  out  that  in  the  end 
the  increasing  armaments  must  bring  about  the  very 
condition  of  active  war  which  they  are  designed  to  pre- 
vent. 

Before  proceeding  further,  let  us  consider  the  grounds 
upon  which  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  war 
spirit  is  really  an  abnormal  condition.  The  question  is 
to  be  settled  by  determining  the  true  standard  of  health. 
Those  who  draw  their  deductions  from  analogies  between 
man  and  the  lower  animals,  superficially  considered,  or 
even  from  a rough  survey  of  the  history  of  mankind, 
find  much  that  seems  to  prove  that  the  war  spirit  is 
after  all  inherent  and  normal.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
note  the  gradual  upward  tendency  of  man,  and  look  upon 
the  character  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  true  type  of 
manhood,  as  a prophecy  of  what  mankind  is  to  be,  we 
have  no  alternative  but  to  pronounce  war  and  the  spirit 
that  leads  to  it  inconsistent  with  the  true  health  of  hu- 
man character.  For  my  own  part  I believe  that  the  time 
is  more  than  come  when  the  continuance  of  the  war 
spirit  is  no  longer  merely  an  evidence  of  incomplete  de- 
velopment. It  now  denotes  arrested  development  and 
disease.  Many  conditions  of  life  and  thought  that  were 
* normal  for  our  ancestors  would  be  abnormal  and  un- 


^ lO 


4 


healthy  for  us,  just  as  there  are  conditions  in  healthy 
childhood,  which,  if  continued  into  adult  life,  would  be 
evidences  of  serious  physical  and  mental  disturbance. 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  spirit  that  underlies 
war  is  normal  or  abnormal  has  far  more  than  a theoret- 
ical value.  Upon  our  answer  will  depend  very  largely 
our  personal  attitude  and  our  influence.  It  is  there- 
fore of  great  importance  that  we  should  have  the  ques- 
tion definitely  settled.  Surely,  apart  from  the  glare  and 
poetry  of  war,  and  inherited  ideas  in  regard  to  it,  no 
one  who  accepts  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  our  ideal  can  hesi- 
tate to  admit  that  the  carnage  and  the  unholy  passions 
engendered  by  war  are  not  the  true  attributes  of  man- 
hood, but  that  they  belong  to  the  past.  In  so  far  as 
they  may  still  be  regarded  as  in  any  sense  natural,  they 
are  so  because  of  the  remains  of  our  inheritance  from  the 
beasts  that  perish,  and  are  not  worthy  of  the  man  that 
is  to  be,  or  that  is.  We  are  called  to  be  the  prophets  of 
good  things  to  come,  to  prepare  for  and  embrace  them 
— yes,  suffer  for  them,  undazzled  by  appearances. 

The  future  is  our  home.  Not  what  we  are, 

But  what  we  are  becoming;  this  can  mar 
Or  make  our  blessedness.  The  faintest  light 
In  eastern  skies  brings  day;  the  western  radiance, 
night. 

The  real  difficulty,  however,  lies  not  in  the  general 
theory,  but  in  the  working  of  it  out.  Men  say:  Yes, 
war  is  hateful, and  we  hate  it;  but  how  can  it  be  avoided? 
They  regard  the  disease  as  incurable,  and  the  cause  of  it 
too  deep  to  be  discovered  and  removed.  But  many 
diseases  formerly  supposed  to  be  ineradicable  and  in- 


5 


* curable  are  in  reality  neither.  The  same  is,  as  I be- 
lieve, the  case  with  war.  Let  us  approach  the  problem 
with  hope;  for  in  treating  this  disease  of  militarism,  the 
attitude  of  hopelessness  takes  much  of  the  force  out  of 

* our  influence. 

Again,  with  many  the  conviction  that  war  and  the 
war  spirit  are  abnormal  is  weak,  and  they  feel  unable 
to  take  a really  strong  position  on  the  question  because 
of  the  underlying  thought  that,  after  all,  wars  have  pro- 
duced good  results.  Can  they  then  be  wholly  evil? 
May  not  the  objection  to  war  be  in  reality  a fad  rather 
than  a principle — a fad  of  people  who  overlook  under- 
lying evils?  It  was  probably  with  something  of  this  in 
his  mind  that  we  find  the  hero  in  Tennyson’s  “Maud” 
saying: 

“ Last  week  there  came  to  the  country  town, 

To  preach  our  poor  little  army  down, 

And  play  the  game  of  the  despot  kings — 

Though  the  state  had  done  it  and  thrice  as  well — 
This  broad-brimmed  hawker  of  holy  things, 

Whose  ear  is  crammed  with  cotton  and  rings, 

Even  in  dreams  to  the  chink  of  his  pence. 

This  huckster  put  down  war!  Can  he  tell 
Whether  war  be  a cause  or  a consequence? 

Put  down  the  passions  that  make  earth  hell; 

Down  with  ambition,  avarice,  pride. 

Jealousy  down.  Cut  off  from  the  mind 

* The  bitter  springs  of  anger  and  fear. 

Down,  too,  down,  from  your  own  fireside 
With  the  evil  tongue  and  the  evil  ear, 

For  each  is  at  war  with  mankind.” 


6 


This  is  quite  right  in  its  positive  position,  wrong  in 
what  it  denounces.  It  unconsciously  gives  strong  support 
to  the  effort  to  banish  war;  for  if  war  he  the  consequence 
of  the  passions  that  make  earth  hell,  then  there  is  little 
more  to  be  said  for  it.  As  I have  pointed  out,  war  is 
the  eruptive  stage  of  an  acute  fever.  It  is  therefore 
manifestly  unwise  for  us  to  direct  all  our  attention  to 
combating  the  eruption.  The  underlying  condition  of 
the  whole  system  must  be  studied,  and  we  must  do  what 
we  may  to  limit  the  contagion  and  to  eradicate  it.  The 
comparison  to  an  eruptive  fever  in  the  human  body  does, 
however,  not  altogether  hold;  for  in  the  latter  case,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  the  eruption  is  bound  to  come  and 
is  generally  to  be  encouraged  rather  than  otherwise. 
But  with  military  fever,  even  when  it  seems  to  be  at  its 
acute  stage,  the  eruption  may  at  times  be  averted,  and 
the  attack  pass  off  without  it,  as  was  the  case  in  the 
Alabama  and  the  Venezuelan  difficulties  with  England. 
It  is  therefore  always  worth  while  to  make  the  effort. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  too  true  that  when  the  disease 
has  reached  a certain  stage  the  eruption  of  war  nearly 
always  follows.  The  passions  of  men  are  aroused,  they 
are  afflicted  with  a form  of  delirium — for  it  is  a delirium, 
even  when  apparently  coherent  and  sober — and  this  pre- 
vents wiser  counsels  from  being  even  understood.  But 
at  such  times,  as  in  other  epidemics,  the  most  useful 
persons  are  those  who  are  not  prostrated  with  the  disease. 
Never  are  the  healthy  more  needed  than  in  an  epidemic, 
and  even  though  it  become  so  general  that  the  nation  as 
a whole  is  affected  and  a general  eruption  of  war  breaks 
out,  yet  the  members  of  a body  politic  are  not  wholly 
like  the  members  of  the  human  body.  All  the  mem- 


7 


bers  indeed  suffer,  but  all  need  not  become  diseased. 
The  larger  the  number  that  remain  in  health,  the  sooner 
will  health  be  restored  to  the  whole  body,  and  the  less 
" liable  will  the  nation  be  to  be  affected  in  like  manner 
again.  For  the  disease  of  war  is,  of  course,  largely  a 
disease  which  primarily  affects  the  mind  and  character. 
The  stronger  the  number,  therefore,  of  men  and  women 
who  are  known  to  be  really  immune,  capable  under  all 
circumstances  of  resisting  the  contagion  of  war,  the  more 
careful  will  the  leaders  of  the  people  be  to  avoid  the  ex- 
citing causes  of  war.  This  shows  the  true  patriotism 
that  there  is  in  a conscientious  maintenance  of  sound 
health  during  periods  of  excitement,  and  in  the  stal- 
wart refusal  in  any  way  to  help  or  encourage  that  which 
is  recognized  as  morally  diseased.  Even  though  it  may 
be  impossible  for  a given  individual,  with  the  limited 
knowledge  that  most  individuals  have  of  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  and  still  more  limited  experience  of 
public  affairs,  to  say  how,  under  certain  special  condi- 
tions that  seem  to  prevail,  his  nation  can  avoid  war;  yet, 
if  he  recognize  war  and  the  war  spirit  to  be  a moral  dis- 
ease, and  therefore  in  its  essence  sin,  he  is  a true  patriot, 
a true  conserver  of  national  health,  in  maintaining  his 
integrity  and  refusing  to  become  in  any  way  one  who 
countenances  the  evil.  If,  in  addition  to  this,  strong 
in  his  position  that  to  do  evil  is  always  unwise,  he  main- 
tain in  the  case  of  a fresh  excitement  that  the  true  solu- 
* tion  is  a peaceful  one,  he  may  rest  easy  under  present 
misunderstanding  in  the  conviction  that  history  will  jus- 
tify his  faith. 

But  we  have  not  yet  met  the  objection  that  wars  have 
accomplished  good.  The  feeling  that  they  have  often 


8 


makes  the  instructors  of  young  people,  who  may  be  con- 
sidered among  the  moral  physicians  of  society,  hesitate  in 
impressing  the  importance  of  the  teachings  of  peace.  But 
of  what  evils  could  not  the  same  be  said?  Plagues  and 
poverty  have  been  the  means  of  great  good.  Think  of 
the  personal  heroism  displayed  in  plagues.  Think  of 
the  magnificent  instances  where  the  richer  have  helped 
the  poorer.  Think  of  the  increased  cleanliness  of  our 
cities,  which  has  been  largely  brought  about  through 
diseases  engendered  by  filth.  To  come  more  directly 
to  the  point,  lying,  murder,  stealing,  and  other  forms 
of  immorality  have  produced  good  results.  Do  we, 
therefore,  justify  them?  What  sin  ever  committed 
equals  that  of  those  who  crucified  Christ?  Yet  what 
an  untold  blessing  has  come  to  us  through  it.  Shall 
we,  therefore,  encourage  the  execution  of  good  men? 
Because  a part  of  our  country  was  acquired  unjustly 
from  the  Indians,  do  we,  therefore,  justify  the  evil  ? 
Do  we  approve  of  immorality  because  Erasmus  and 
Alexander  Hamilton  were  illegitimate  children? 

We  believe  in  God.  It  would  be  a terrible  strain  upon 
the  faith  of  thoughtful  persons  in  a righteous  God  if 
all  the  results  of  evil  were  evil.  There  is  no  sin,  I imag- 
ine, which  has  not  seemed  to  produce,  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances, some  good,  and  which,  therefore,  on  the  plea 
of  immediate  expediency,  might  not  be  justified.  But 
we  must  look  deeper  than  the  mere  appearances  of 
things.  Other  evils  than  war  are  usually  of  a more  pri- 
vate character  and  the  results  are  therefore  more  limited. 
But  war  and  its  results  are  seen  on  a large  scale,  and 
more  especially  those  results  which  are  dazzling  in  their 
character  and  extent.  But  while  sin  is  made  to  serve 


9 


good  ends,  it  is  also  punished.  It  is  an  entire  mistake 
to  say  that  war  purifies  the  life  of  a nation,  or  that 
morals  are  elevated  by  that  which  necessitates  the  de- 
^ fiance  of  morality.  I heard  a gospel  minister  recently 
quote  approvingly  Sherman’s  well-known  phrase,  “ War 
is  hell,”  and  then  add,  “ But  there  are  things  worse  than 
hell.”  No,  brother  minister,  not  if  we  give  the  true  defi- 
nition to  hell,  which  is  not  simply  the  acme  of  suffering, 
but  the  acme  of  moral  disease — that  is,  the  acme  of  sin. 
War  not  only  leaves  a nation  poorer,  but  it  leaves  it  im- 
poverished in  righteousness,  morally  diseased,  with  a 
false  ambition  and  pride  on  one  side  and  a rankling  of 
hate  and  'desire  for  revenge  on  the  other.  The  excep- 
tions to  these  statements  are  so  inconsiderable,  especially 
in  regard  to  influence  upon  national  morality,  as  to  de- 
serve nothing  more  than  a passing  notice. 

Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  influence  of  the  civil  war 
in  the  United  States  upon  temperance  reform.  It  put 
that  movement  back  more  than  a generation.  Who  can 
imagine  a great  New  York  daily  at  this  time  undertaking 
the  cause  of  temperance  legislation,  and  urging  it  on,  as 
the  “ Tribune”  did  before  1860.  This  is  but  a small 
phase  of  the  question.  The  enormous  increase  in  crime 
in  this  country  is  directly  traceable  to  the  war.  Turning 
from  our  own  nation  to  the  wars  of  the  world,  apart  from 
its  moral  evils,  think  of  the  priceless  monuments  of  an- 
tiquity that  war  has  destroyed,  from  the  first  sack  of 
Babylon,  the  destruction  of  Nineveh,  of  the  treasures  of 
Greece  and  Borne,  the  burning  of  the  library  of  Alexan- 
dria, to  the  devastations  of  modern  times.  War  is  vandal- 
ism. If  it  has  won  liberty,  it  has  also  destroyed  liberty. 
* The  large  standing  army  is  at  once  the  right  hand  and 


ID 


the  terror  of  tyrants.  It  is  sometimes  the  child  of  re- 
publics, hut  is  always  fatal  to  republicanism. 

Yet  is  not  the  sword  needed  to  open  in  heathen 
lands  the  way  for  the  gospel.  What  gospel  needs  it? 
Certainly  not  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  When  was 
this  more  pressed  and  in  greater  danger  than  in  the 
earlier  centuries,  when  Eome  proscribed  it  and  sought 
to  crush  it?  and  when  was  it,  so  far  as  outward  weapons 
went,  so  utterly  defenceless?  Yet  when  were  its  tri- 
umphs greater?  Because  ceAain  modern  countries  have 
been  opened  to  missionaries  through  war  does  not  prove 
that  they  might  not  have  been  opened  by  other  means. 
Take  Japan,  for  example,  as  a modern  instance  of  a 
country  opened  by  force.  Centuries  ago  she  was  open 
to  Christianity  without  the  sword,  and  became  closed 
to  it  through  the  unchristian  behaviour  of  the  professing 
Christians.  The  countries  that  are  opened  by  the  sword 
are  opened  by  it  more  effectually  to  other  things  than 
the  gospel.  Christianity  has  suffered  far  more  than  it 
has  been  helped  through  war,  and,  if  deprived  to-mor- 
row of  armed  help,  would  be  free  to  resume  in  all  their 
force  and  effectiveness  the  weapons  of  God. 

Again,  we  constantly  hear  it  said  that  force  is  the  only 
argument  that  barbarous  and  semi-barbarous  people  can 
comprehend.  But  no  one  acquainted  with  history  can 
honestly  maintain  this  position.  The  classical  illustra- 
tion of  the  course  pursued  by  William  Penn  and  his 
friends  shows  how  justice  and  good  faith  are  stronger 
guarantees  of  peace  than  the  sword.  The  unarmed  col- 
ony of  Pennsylvania  was  safer  with  savages  around  it  and 
in  it  than  were  the  fortified  colonies  to  the  north  and 
the  south.  Compare  the  results  of  the  uneven,  often  dis- 


11 


^ honorable,  and  military  methods  practiced  in  regard  to 
the  Indians  in  the  United  States  with  the  generally 
mild  and  just  methods  pursued  towards  them  in  the  great 
north,  first  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  and  then  by 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  you  have  another  effectual 
answer  to  the  statement  that  savages  understand  nothing 
but  an  appeal  to  physical  force.  The  recent  success  of 
Sir  Andrew  Clarke  in  the  Straits  Settlements  is  a 
. case  in  point.  With  no  attempt  at  subjugation,  he  has 
been  able  to  transform  the  little  warring  states  there  into 
peaceful,  law-abiding  and  prosperous  communities. 
Previously,  each,  governed  by  its  own  semi-barbarous 
Sultan,  was  continually  warring  on  its  neighbors. 
The  feudal  lords  were  constantly  engaged  in  piracy  and 
in  petty  strife,  so  that  the  condition  of  the  settlements 
was  one  of  poverty  and  continual  distraction.  How 
was  this  accomplished?  First,  by  winning  the 
confidence  of  the  people  that  there  was  no  thought  of 
conquest  or  of  interference  with  their  liberty,  and  af- 
terwards by  inducing  them  to  refer  their  disputes  to  him- 
self, and  to  substitute  honest  labor  for  piracy.  The  Fiji 
Islands  have  been  brought  to  a state  of  peace  by  means 
of  the  British  resident,  who  carefully  studied  the 
thoughts  and  habits  of  the  people,  and  allowed  them  to 
retain  their  own  customs  in  respect  to  property,  etc., 
and  who  treated  them  with  the  most  even-handed  jus- 
tice. The  amount  of  force  used  was  extremely  slight. 

The  experience  of  many  missionaries  in  Africa  and 
+ elsewhere  who  have  proceeded  wholly  on  a basis  of  jus- 
tice and  peace,  point  to  the  same  conclusion,  while  the 
history  of  the  Doukhobors  is  particularly  impressive. 
About  fifty  years  ago  large  numbers  of  this  peace-loving 


12 


community  were  sent  off  to  the  Trans-Caucasus  by  the 
Russian  government  to  a place  where  to  all  human  ap- 
pearance they  would  be  forced  to  fight  or  be  extermi- 
nated. The  tribes  among  whom  they  were  thrown  were 
of  the  same  character  as  those  who  recently  committed 
such  atrocities  against  the  Armenians.  When  the 
Doukhobors  came,  these  commenced  their  depredations, 
but  the  settlers  made  no  resistance,  and  did  not  even  ap- 
peal to  the  civil  magistrate.  The  wild  tribesmen  were 
amazed.  u Who  can  these  he?”  they  said.  “ Certainly 
they  cannot  be  Christians,  or  they  would  retaliate;  they 
must  be  the  original  Mohammedans.  We  have  degen- 
erated. They  have  kept  their  purity.”  And  so  their 
enemies  became  their  friends  and  even  protectors.  It 
may  be  said,  Why  did  not  the  same  rule  work  out  in  the 
same  way  in  the  case  of  the  Armenians,  who  were  also 
non-combatants,  for  they  were  not  allowed  to  possess 
weapons?  But  there  are  other  methods  of  warfare  than 
that  with  swords  and  guns:  and  many  Armenians,  as  I 
believe,  had  been  fighting  the  Kurds  in  this;  that  they,, 
having  the  more  acute  intellects,  were  able  constantly  to 
gain  the  advantage  of  the  mountain  people  in  trade. 
For  this  reason,  with  all  our  sympathy  for  them,  we  can- 
not regard  them  as  martyrs  to  peace  principles. 

vIn  all  these  examples,  and  they  could  be  largely  in- 
creased, we  have  abundant  evidence  that  even  savage 
peoples  are  open  to  the  effect  of  kind  and  fair  treat- 
ment. If  they  be  approached  in  this  spirit  and  their 
habits  and  methods  of  thought  be  honestly  studied,  and 
they  treated  as  far  as  possible  in  accordance  with  their 
own  ideas,  they  will  become  our  friends  and  helpers,  and 
not  our  enemies.  It  is  also  of  great  importance  to  re- 


13 


member  that  they  learn  the  vices  of  civilization  more 
readily  than  they  do  its  virtues,  and  that  therefore,  we 
should  carefully  guard  them  against  the  introduction  of 
* liquor  and  fire-arms.  How  different  from  this  has  been 
our  nation^  attitude,  first  toward  the  Indians  and  now 
toward  the  Cubans,  where  one  of  the  first  effects  of  our 
occupation  has  been  the  establishment  of  thousands  of 
saloons  for  the  sale  of  strong  drink.  What  a golden  op- 
portunity our  government  has  missed  in  failing  to  follow 
in  our  treatment  of  the  Filipinos  the  methods  followed 
so  successfully  in  the  Straits  Settlements  by  Sir  An- 
drew Clarke. 

In  dwelling  largely  upon  the  asserted  necessity  for 
war,  I have  not  wandered  from  my  subject,  for  there  are 
few  conditions  of  mind  that  lay  us  more  open  to  the 
contagion  of  the  war  spirit  than  that  in  which  we  have 
an  underlying  conviction  that  because  war  has  at  times 
produced  good  results  it  is  therefore  to  be  justified. 

The  causes  of  military  fever  may  be  divided  into  the 
predisposing  and  the  exciting.  The  strongest  among 
the  first  is  the  inherited  tendency,  which  may  be  de- 
scribed as  practically  universal.  This  tendency  must, 
however,  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  disease  it- 
self. As  children  with  strong  inherited  tendency  to 
tuberculosis  may,  if  guarded  against  infection  and  placed 
under  hygienic  conditions,  entirely  escape  the  disease,  so 
A with  proper  care  we  may  ourselves  escape  the  contagion 
of  the  war  spirit  and  guard  those  under  our  influence 
from  it. 

The  teachings  of  the  evolutionist  may  here  come  to 
our  aid.  If  we  can  get  the  thought  firmly  fixed  in  the 


-4 


14 


minds  of  our  children  that  the  tendency  in  man  to  ani- 
mal combativeness  is  an  inheritance  from  onr  ancestors 
according  to  the  flesh,  the  remains  of  the  brute  nature 
within  us,  and  that  it  is  our  high  privilege  to 

“ Move  upward,  working  out  the  beast, 

And  let  the  ape  and  tiger  die,” 

we  shall  have  done  much  to  enlist  their  best  powers 
of  mind  and  character  in  behalf  of  a noble  struggle  and 
heroic  effort,  that  will  bring  into  play  a right  warfaring 
spirit  on  behalf  of  normal  manhood.  This  gives  us  a 
vantage  ground  far  greater  than  the  mere  teaching  of 
tame  non-resistance.  It  is  on  these  lines  also  that  we  find 
a solution  to  the  question  so  often  raised  as  to  whether 
if  our  teaching  on  wrar  be  true,  we  do  not  cast  an  unde- 
served slur  upon  the  military  leaders  of  ancient  and  mod- 
ern times.  On  the  theory  of  development  these  men, 
in  this  respect,  were,  to  use  Robert  Barclay’s  expression, 
“in  the  mixture.”  Each  age  is  to  have  a higher  and 
higher  standard  as  time  goes  on.  The  frightfully  cruel 
wars  of  the  Israelites  are  to  be  judged,  not  from  the 
point  of  view  of  modern  thought,  but  with  a remem- 
brance of  the  stage  of  development  that  they  had  then 
attained.  We  can  honor  the  warriors  of  old,  and  seek 
to  be  as  faithful  to  our  light  as  they  were  to  theirs. 
Thermopylae  and  Marathon  are  ours.  The  tales  of  chiv- 
alry do  not  make  us  wish  to  return  to  the  lower  stand- 
ards of  the  Middle  Ages,  but  they  rightly  stir  our  blood 
with  high  resolve.  Even  in  the  present  day  we  need  not 
be  blind  to  the  good  that  is  in  the  military  leader,  or 
claim  that  all  who  have  not  seen  war  and  the  war 
spirit  to  be  disease  and  sin,  are  wholly  evil  and  to  be  de- 


15 


claimed  against.  We  know  that  many  of  them  engage  in 
war  with  good  motives  and  an  unsullied  conscience.  We 
must  ourselves  remember,  and  teach  others,  that  the  pro- 
gress upward  is  slow,  difficult  and  uneven,  and  that  these 
^ very  men  who  fail  to  see  what  we  believe  to  he  the  truth 
in  regard  to  war  may  well  he  in  advance  of  us  in  many 
respects,  and  be  able  to  teach  us  on  matters  where  we 
have  failed  to  see  the  true  ideal.  But  all  this  should 
not  cause  us  to  be  unfaithful  to  that  which  we  have 
seen — that  war  and  the  spirt  that  leads  to  it  are  incon- 
sistent with  the  true  ideal  of  manhood.  It  is  our  place 
in  all  humility  and  teachableness  to  maintain  and  teach 
that  which  we  know.  Only  in  so  doing  can  we  contrib- 
ute our  share  to  the  general  work  of  uplifting  men. 
The  very  fact  that  our  position  is  still  a largely  misun- 
derstood one,  and  that  it  lays  us  open  to  undeserved 
charges  of  cowardice  and  want  of  patriotism,  so  far  from 
discouraging  us,  should  arouse  us  to  a sense  of  the  need 
of  our  teaching,  and  to  an  heroic  endurance  of  hardness 
and  reproach  for  the  sake  of  a noble  cause.  To  say  that 
we  are  simply  believers  in  non-resistance  is  to  state  the 
question  not  only  negatively,  but  untruly.  We  believe 
in  resistance — yes,  and  in  the  use  of  force;  but  the  force 
we  believe  in,  whether  it  be  physical  or  moral,  is  always 
to  be  under  the  control  of  love  and  justice,  extended  as 
truly  toward  the  transgressor  as  toward  anyone  else. 
Under  these  restrictions  the  force  manifested  through 
physical  means  very  soon  comes  to  an  end. 

* An  important  means,  therefore,  to  counteract  the  in- 
herited tendency  to  animal  combativeness  is  to  show  the 
child  whence  it  arises,  and  to  instill  into  him  the  true 
ideal  of  manliness  from  the  standpoint  of  the  ideal  man, 


16 


as  shown  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  to  show  him  that  this 
is  to  be  actually  attained,  and  turn  his  energies  into  that 
direction  where  he  will  find  legitimate  scope  for  the 
higher  warfare  and  struggle. 

In  considering  the  exciting  causes  of  war  fever,  we 
must  remember  that  the  disease  is  both  contagious  and 
infectious,  and  we  may  best  treat  the  subject  under  the 
head  of  how  the  infection  is  carried.  There  is,  however, 
considerable  difference  in  its  activity  at  different  times. 
The  infection  is  carried  from  person  to  person  directly; 
by  clothing  (in  the  shape  of  military  ornaments  and  uni- 
form), by  books  and  pictures  of  a certain  kind,  often  by 
words,  and  by  music  (when  of  a martial  character).  Foci 
of  infection  are  discovered  in  public  gatherings,  especially 
on  occasions  of  national  importance,  in  armories,  boys’ 
brigades,  schools,  colleges,  and  even  at  times  churches. 
In  fact,  speaking  broadly,  the  infection  is  very  widely 
diffused.  Almost  every  newspaper  is  a vehicle  for  it,  and 
it  has  even  been  found  in  peace  associations,  and  at  times 
in  Quaker  meeting  houses  and  homes,  which  are  gen- 
erally supposed  to  be  thoroughly  aseptic. 

We  cannot  go  out  of  the  world,  and  therefore  we  can- 
not escape  exposure  to  the  infection.  The  only  safety 
consists  in  becoming  immune  to  the  poison.  While 
there  is  no  form  of  vaccination  that  will  once  for  all 
protect  us,  there  is  a very  great  deal  that  can  be  done 
that  will  render  us  practically  immune.  I am  not  one 
who  would  recommend  sterilizing  our  lives  in  order  to 
escape  infection.  I would  not,  for  instance,  approve  of 
the  tabooing  of  all  literature  that  endorses  and  glorifies 
war.  This  would  rule  out  the  Old  Testament  and  very 
many  writings  of  the  greatest  value.  Neither  would  I 


17 


distort  history  to  defend  peace.  Truth  is  never  aided  by 
untruth.  For  a man  to  live  in  an  atmosphere  of  disin- 
fectants and  antiseptics,  and  to  eat  his  meals  with  all 
the  precautions  required  in  a modern  surgical  operation, 
would  be  intolerable.  Vigorous  life  is  the  great  pro- 
tector against  the  onslaughts  of  disease,  and  this  is  more 
true  in  the  moral  than  it  is  in  the  physical  realm,  al- 
though in  both  the  strongest  person,  as  well  as  the 
weakest,  requires  to  be  rendered  immune.  At  the  same 
time,  while  I would  not  bar  out  books  of  the  character 
I have  mentioned,  or  distort  history,  I should  have  the 
greatest  pains  taken  to  have  history,  philosophy  and 
ethics  taught  from  the  true  scientific  point  of  view.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  past  now  gives  us  a vista  long  enough 
to  enable  us  to  see  in  what  direction  mankind  is  tend- 
ing, and  to  behold  the  hand  of  God  in  the  rise  and  fall 
of  nations.  Such  study  shows  us  that  the  goal  is  justice 
and  peace.  We  can  impress  this.  We  can  in  many  cases 
— I should  say  in  all  where  we  have  full  knowledge  of  the 
facts — clearly  show  how  calm  judgment  might  have 
avoided  the  catastrophe  of  war,  and  we  can  enforce  the 
lesson  to  be  drawn  from  the  progress  in  arbitration, 
through  the  hundred  successful  arbitrations  in  the  past 
century,  to  the  present  concerted  effort  to  establish  it  as 
a method  for  the  civilized  world.  We  can  give  right 
prominence  to  the  burden  of  debt,  of  suffering,  of  dis- 
ease, and  sin  that  wars  have  entailed.  We  can  explain 
^ the  burden  of  great  armaments,  and  their  attendant 
evils.  We  can  encourage  our  young  people  to  prepare 
essays  as  to  how  wars  may  be  avoided,  and  how  nobler 
methods  may  be  encouraged.  We  can  draw  before  them 
a picture  of  war  as  it  is — pictures  in  words  comparable 


18 


to  Verestchagin’s  pictures  on  canvas — which  called  forth 
the  enthusiastic  commendation  of  the  old  soldier,  Count 
Yon  Moltke.  But  that  general  was  too  wise  to  he  sat- 
isfied with  praise.  He  issued  an  order  that  no  soldier 
should  be  allowed  to  look  upon  those  pictures.  He 
feared  that,  should  they  do  so  in  cold  blood,  and  see 
what  war  really  is,  they  would  be  unwilling  to  continue 
to  be  soldiers.  We  can  impress  upon  our  young  people 
that  the  primary  duty  of  a soldier  is  not,  as  is  so  often 
said,  to  die  for  his  country,  but,  to  quote  General  Wolse- 
ley,  to  kill  the  enemy.  To  counteract  the  contagion  of 
false  ideas,  let  us  substitute  correct  ones.  When  young 
people  are  impressed  with  the  thought  that  war  is  the 
school  for  all  manly  virtues,  let  us  remind  them  of  what 
true  manliness  is.  I think  we  shall  have  little  difficulty 
in  getting  them  to  assent  to  the  proposition  that  manli- 
ness involves  strength  and  a right  independence  of  char- 
acter, that  while  obedience  is  manly,  he  is  more  manly 
who  disobeys  a command  to  do  evil  than  he  who  obeys 
it,  and  that  the  manly  man  will  do  right  at  all  hazards. 
Then  tell  them  what  the  Emperor  William  said  some 
years  since  to  his  troops,  that  they  were  to  obey  him  as 
if  he  were  God,  and  that  he  would  be  personally  re- 
sponsible to  God  for  his  commands.  Show  them  that, 
in  a blunt  way,  he  truly  enforced  the  military  idea.  A 
soldier  has  no  right  to  a conscience,  except  as  it  pleases 
his  commander  for  him  to  have  it.  If  he  be  commanded 
to  steal,  as  in  foraging,  he  does  it;  if  to  lie,  as  spies  must, 
he  does  it;  if  to  kill  and  destroy  property,  he  does  it.  In 
our  recent  war  there  were  Christian  temperance  men 
detailed,  against  their  conscience,  to  serve  out  liquor  in 
the  army  canteens.  They  did  it.  Is  this  manliness? 


19 


^ We  need  to  have  it  impressed  upon  ourselves  and  upon 
the  young,  that  even  a sovereign  nation  is  still  lower 
! than  God,  and  that  however  strong  it  may  be,  its  man- 
date cannot  change  good  into  evil,  or  evil  into  good. 
^ Murder,  robbery  and  lying  are  still  murder,  robbery  and 
lying,  whether  done  in  an  apparently  good  cause  or  in  a 
bad  one,  whether  committed  against  an  individual  or  a 
people,  whether  done  for  private  reasons  or  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  state.  A nation  by  commanding  me  to  do  an 
unrighteous  act  does  not  thereby  make  that  act  right- 
eous. It  has  no  more  power  of  absolution  than  the  Pope. 

A very  subtle  way  in  which  the  contagion  of  the  war 
spirit  comes  is  under  the  cloak  of  patriotism.  The  pa- 
triotism whose  motto  is  “My  country:  may  she  ever  be 
in  the  right,  but  my  country  right  or  wrong,”  is  at  first 
sight  exceedingly  attractive.  On  analysis  we  find  that 
the  sentiment  entirely  sacrifices  the  principle  of  indi- 
vidual righteousness.  It  is  pagan  and  not  Christian. 
True  patriotism  is  that  which  seeks  the  best  for  its  coun- 
try, and  recognizes  that  nothing  is  best  that  is  not  right- 
eous. A nation  can  advance  in  righteousness  only  as 
those  whose  standards  are  higher  than  the  average  in- 
sist at  all  risks  upon  maintaining  their  integrity.  A 
government  is  no  more  required  to  do  wrong  than  an  in- 
dividual. It  has  been  well  said  that  if  a government 
were  only  a mere  trustee  for  the  national  material  wealth 
and  honor,  then  there  would  be  times  when  it  might  be 
forced  to  engage  in  war.  But  if  the  government  is  to 
4 serve  the  truest  interests  of  its  people,  then  there  are 
higher  things  than  these,  and  the  highest  are  not  to  be 
P*  sacrificed  to  the  lower.  If  the  government  will  not 
see  this,  then  let  the  true  light  bearers  see  it  and  act. 


20 


Let  them  testify  that  war  is  now  a moral  anachronism, 
and  that,  therefore,  it  has  become  sinful.  Let  them  re- 
fuse to  join  in  any  way  with  the  obscurantists  of  the 
present  age,  who  seek  to  maintain  it.  A nation  is  strong 
in  proportion  to  its  righteousness.  Even  allowing  that 
a case  might  arise  where  righteousness  meant  organic 
dissolution,  still  it  is  for  a nation,  as  for  an  individual, 
better  to  die  than  to  sin. 

Without  going  further  into  particulars,  let  us  now 
come  to  the  underlying  cause  of  war.  This  consists  in 
a false  attitude  towards  God  and  man.  Christ  Jesus 
proclaimed  not  only  peace  between  God  and  man,  but 
between  man  and  man.  God  is  not  to  be  approached  by 
his  children  as  the  God  of  the  Americans,  or  the  Eng- 
lish, the  French,  or  the  Spaniards;  but  as  the  God  of 
men.  Have  we  not  all  one  Father?  Did  not  Christ  die 
for  all?  Paul  tells  us  (E.  V.)  that  in  Christ  Jesus  there 
can  be  neither  bond  nor  free,  neither  Greek  nor  Jew, 
for  we  are  all  one  in  Christ.  Nationalities  are,  as  it 
were,  different  households,  different  families,  each  under 
its  own  management,  but  all  living  in  the  same  city  or 
county.  Every  war  is  necessarily  a civil  war.  Injury 
that  one  side  inflicts  upon  its  enemy  is  a loss  to  both. 
Every  man  slain  cripples  both.  The  property  destroyed 
by  the  victorious  party  impoverishes  itself.  Whether  we 
will  it  or  no,  the  whole  world  is  a vast  mutual  life  and 
property  insurance  company,  wherein  all  help  to  pay  for 
the  loss  of  one.  True  patriotism  recognizes  human 
brotherhood. 

“ Man  is  more  than  constitutions.  Better  rot  beneath 
the  sod, 

Than  be  true  to  church  and  state,  while  we’re  doubly 
false  to  God. 


21 


y He’s  true  to  God  who’s  true  to  man.  Wherever  wrong 
is  done^ 

" To  the  humblest  and  the  vilest  ’neath  the  all  beholding 
^ sun, 

That  wrong  is  also  done  to  us;  and  they  are  slaves  most 
base. 

Whose  love  of  right  is  for  themselves,  and  not  for  all  the 
✓ race.” 

It  is  true  that  the  world  is  still  “ in  the  mixture,”  and 
so  long  as  this  is  the  case  there  is  at  least  danger  that 
wars  will  continue.  But  the  tendency  is  upward.  Let 
us  not  be  seduced  by  the  specious  plea,  or  allow  others 
to  be  seduced  by  it,  that  we  must  accept  the  inevitable. 
Still  less  let  us  use  Bible  texts  to  show  that  wars  are  to 
continue  to  the  end.  Such  teaching  is  the  enthrone- 
ment of  pessimism  so  far  as  the  present  age  is  concerned, 
and  means  that  the  kingdom  of  righteousness,  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  is  never  to  be  triumphant  by  virtue  of 
the  intrinsic  power  of  its  king.  With  all  respect  for 
those  who  hold  this  view,  I believe  that  it  is  essentially 
dishonoring  to  God,  and  that  it  tends  to  take  all  the  en- 
thusiasm and  hope  out  of  our  work  for  the  betterment  of 
men.  This  of  itself  would  be  sufficient  to  show  that  it 
is  not  in  accord  with  the  teachings  of  Christ,  the  “ High 
Priest  of  good  things  to  come.”  As  I believe,  only  an 
undue  literalism  in  the  interpretation  of  certain  pas- 
sages in  the  Bible  could  lead  to  such  a theory.  Christ 
*never  gave  us  the  true  standard  of  living  only  to  take 
away  our  hope  of  attaining  it. 

~ One  God,  one  Saviour,  one  brotherhood.  The  truth 
conveyed  in  these  words  will,  if  accepted,  enable  us  to 


22 


get  into  the  true  position  for  observation.  Here  we  * 
shall  see  how  the  highest  patriotism  calls  upon  us  to  re- 
fuse to  participate  in  anything  that  tends  to  maintain  ^ 
false  barriers  between  man  and  man.  The  time  is  ripe 
for  showing  forth  these  truths.  The  brotherhood  of* 
man,  arbitration,  the  idea  of  fellowship, — all  these  and 
kindred  thoughts  are  in  the  air.  The  teachers  of  peace, 
because  they  have  proclaimed  truth,  have  been  backed 
up  by  facts  that  are  undeniable,  facts  of  commerce,  of 
political  economy,  religion,  till  even  the  war  lords  of  the 
earth  have  been  compelled  to  help  in  promoting  peace. 
Let  us  take  courage. 

Teaching  on  the  lines  I have  suggested  should  be 
given  both  explicitly  and  implicitly.  Special  lectures, 
presenting  clearly  one  or  other  of  the  many  sides  of  the 
question,  will  be  very  helpful.  But  this  should  never 
be  done  in  a way  that  would  give  the  impression  of  its 
being  a fad.  Healthy  minds  mistrust  fads  as  unworthy 
of  true  manliness.  We  are  to  teach  the  true  unity  of 
man,  and  not  simply  make  a protest  against  the  one 
feature  of  war,  great  as  that  feature  is.  There  is  no 
peace  apart  from  justice.  It  is  righteousness  and  peace 
that  have  kissed  each  other.  Ho  nation  as  it  now  exists 
could  at  once  disband  its  armies,  because  no  nation  is  as 
yet  prepared  to  be  just  in  all  things.  Each  puts  a false 
honor  and  outward  gain  above  justice,  and  trusts  to  force 
to  support  it  in  its  injustice.  No  nation  will  submit  to 
an  insult  such  as  a Christian  man  would  bear  with  meek- 
ness and  dignity.  But  we  are  individually  to  be  strong** 
enough  ourselves  and  to  train  others  to  be  strong  enough 
to  refrain  from  participation,  not  only  in  war,  but  in  * 
that  which  sustains  war — that  is,  in  injustice.  We  are  to^ 
have  no  hand  in  that  which  is  unjust,  whether  it  be  in 


23 


commercial,  political  or  social  life;  nor  can  we  condone 
~ any  unchristian  attitude  on  the  part  of  our  party*  or  our 
Country.  But  a country  cannot  rise  much  above  the 
^average  conscience  of  its  citizens.  Therefore  it  follows 
that,  if  we  are  to  live  up  to  the  standard  here  given,  we 
must  necessarily  often  be  in  the  minority,  and  there 
must  be  many  avenues  of  public  life  closed  to  us.  This 
fact  should  be  clearly  faced,  and  we  should  teach  our 
young  people  that  this  very  abstinence  is  part  of  our 
service,  and  we  are  to  use  it  to  enforce  the  need  of  a 
manful  effort  to  raise  the  general  standard.  Let  us 
teach  them  that  every  act  of  selfishness  and  injustice 
makes  for  war,  but  that  even  hidden  virtue  makes  for 
peace. 

Young  people  love  power  and  admire  it.  That  is  right. 
Let  us  utilize  this  very  characteristic,  and  divert  their 
natural  desire  for  combat  from  its  lower  manifestations, 
which  are  so  easy,  to  the  noble  effort  and  struggle  for 
the  pure  and  true.  Instead  of  Boys*  Brigades,  we  may 
organize  peaceful  brigades  or  associations  in  which  they 
could  be  taught  how  to  administer  first  aid  to  the 
injured,  how  to  resuscitate  the  apparently  drowned, 
various  methods  of  life  saving,  and  the  way  to  assist  at 
fires.  The  advantages  claimed  for  the  drill  can  be  bet- 
ter secured  by  Swedish  movements. 

In  some  localities  young  people  have  successfully  been 
shown  how  to  settle  their  own  personal  disputes  by  ar- 
bitration, which  is  a most  valuable  suggestion.  Younger 
children  especially  can  acquire  the  idea  of  helpfulness 
* and  of  chivalrous  thought  for  the  weak  by  being  taught 
kindness  to  animals. 

^ These  suggestions  might  be  greatly  multiplied,  but 
after  all,  valuable  as  they  are,  the  greatest  impression 


24 


will  be  made  by  implicit  teaching;  that  which  a teacher 
or  parent  gives  unconsciously,  because  it  is  a part  of  him-  * 
eslf.  The  child  will  also  learn  it  unconsciously,  and  will  * 
not  forget  it.  Therefore  it  is  of  the  first  importance^ 
that  we  become  saturated  with  the  principles  of  living 
that  underlie  the  doctrine  of  peace,  and  in  the  fear  of 
God  have  it  settled  in  our  minds  that  these  shall  be,  in 
spite  of  wordy  war  and  misunderstandings,  the  guiding 
principles  of  our  lives. 

The  text  books  chosen  in  our  schools  merit  much  con- 
sideration. Each  teacher  must  choose  what  seem  to  be 
the  best.  But  in  our  choice,  surely  a primary  question 
must  be,  whether  the  writer  is  abreast  of  the  best 
thought  of  the  present  day,  or  whether  he  lives  merely 
in  the  show  of  things. 

The  most  practical  thing  in  the  whole  world  is  a great 
and  true  ideal.  To  follow  this  is,  so  far  as  it  goes,  to 
follow  Christ.  No  one  can  truly  be  His  follower  with- 
out some  frank  acknowledgement  of  His  ideal  and  an 
adoption  of  His  methods.  This  is  to  be  His  disciple. 
Faith  in  Him  implies  unswerving  devotion  to  His  ideals, 
so  far  as  we  know  them.  This  brings  us  into  an  atmos- 
phere wholly  removed  from  that  of  the  world,  and  here 
we  find  the  true  and  effectual  protection  against  the 
contagion  of  the  war  spirit.  It  is  by  being  inoculated 
with  the  divine  life  of  Christ,  and  then  by  understanding 
that  His  teachings  are  to  be  applied  in  this  present  life 
under  our  present  conditions.  He,  the  Prince  of  Love, 
Justice  and  Peace,  is  the  Great  Physician  who  can  per- 
form this.  It  is  His  healing  we  need.  It  is  His  methods 
of  treatment  we  are  to  adopt  in  our  work  to  influence  * 
others,  that  the  fever  of  selfishness  and  of  war  may^ 
cease,  and  true,  manly  health  take  its  place. 


<4 

$ 

* 


f 


4 

J 


